American Canyon Placers

The American Canyon Placers is a gold mine located in Pershing county, Nevada.

About the MRDS Data:

All mine locations were obtained from the USGS Mineral Resources Data System. The locations and other information in this database have not been verified for accuracy. It should be assumed that all mines are on private property.

Mine Info

Name: American Canyon Placers  

State:  Nevada

County:  Pershing

Elevation:

Commodity: Gold

Lat, Long: 40.29861, -118.09806

Map: View on Google Maps

Satelite View

MRDS mine locations are often very general, and in some cases are incorrect. Some mine remains have been covered or removed by modern industrial activity or by development of things like housing. The satellite view offers a quick glimpse as to whether the MRDS location corresponds to visible mine remains.


Satelite image of the American Canyon Placers

American Canyon Placers MRDS details

Site Name

Primary: American Canyon Placers
Secondary: Chinese Placers
Secondary: Chinatown Quicksilver Placer


Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Mercury


Location

State: Nevada
County: Pershing
District: Spring Valley District


Land Status

Land ownership: BLM Administrative Area
Note: the land ownership field only identifies whether the area the mine is in is generally on public lands like Forest Service or BLM land, or if it is in an area that is generally private property. It does not definitively identify property status, nor does it indicate claim status or whether an area is open to prospecting. Always respect private property.


Holdings

Not available


Workings

Type: Surface/Underground


Ownership

Not available


Production

Not available


Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Deposit Type: Placer
Operation Type: Unknown
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: N
Deposit Size: M


Physiography

Not available


Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Placer Au-PGE


Orebody

Not available


Structure

Not available


Alterations

Not available


Rocks

Name: Clay, Mud
Role: Associated
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Holocene


Analytical Data

Not available


Materials

Ore: Cinnabar


Comments

Comment (Production): ESTIMATED $10,000,000. (?) LARGELY FROM AMERICAN & SPRING VALLEY CANYONS. ALSO PRODUCTION OF PROBABLY LESS THAN 100 FLASKS OF MERCURY.

Comment (Development): MOST OF THE PLACER MINING WAS DONE IN THE 1880'S AND 1890'S BY CHINESE MINERS WHO DUG SHAFTS 40-100 FT INTO THE GRAVELS.. NO DOUBT VERY EARLY IN THE MINING, THE CINNABAR OCCURRING WITH THE GOLD IN THE STREAKS OF HEAVY MINERAL CONCENTR-ATIONS WAS NOTED. ACCORDING TO RANSOME, THE OCCURRENCE OF "BOW-LDERS" OF CINNABAR IN THE PLACER GRAVELS LED TO A SEARCH FOR T-HEIR SOURCE AND RESULTED IN THE EARLY DISCOVERY OF THE DIXIE (-KAOLIN) AND NEVADA ALMADEN LODE DEPOSITS FARTHER UP AMERICAN C-ANYON. IN 1941, AFTER A LONG PERIOD OF LITTLE INTEREST IN THE -GOLD PLACERS, THE CHINATOWN QUICKSILVER PLACER DEPOSIT WAS STA-KED IN AMERICAN CANYON NEAR THE CENTER OF SEC 18 BY J. L. ALGE-R, MERRIL FISK AND W. F. FISK. IN 1942, RECORDS INDICATE INDEP-ENDENT PRODUCTION BY TWO OF THE PARTNERS YIELDING 32 FLASKS HG-. NO OTHER MERCURY PRODUCTION FROM THE PLACER DEPOSITS IS RECO-RDED, BUT IT SEEMS VIRTUALLY CERTAIN ADDITIONAL MERCURY WAS RE-COVERED HERE BOTH IN THE EARLY PERIOD OF EXTENSIVE MINING BY T-HE

Comment (Development): FRUGAL CHINESE AND IN OPERATIONS IN THE EARLY 1940'S. IN 19-80 THERE WAS RENEWED INTEREST IN THE GOLD PLACER DEPOSITS WHIC-H MAY LEAD TO RECOVERY OF A LITTLE MERCURY AS A BYPRODUCT.

Comment (Deposit): GOLD WAS CONCENTRATED IN A PAY STREAK UNDERLAIN BY CLAY AT AN AVERAGE DEPTH OF 60 FEET BUT AT SHALLOWER DEPTH AT THE UPPER END OF THE PLACER THAN AT THE EDGE OF THE RANGE. PARTICLES OF CINNABAR RECOVERED FROM THE GRAVELS LED TO THE DISCOVERY OF SEVERAL MERCURY DEPOSITS IN THE AMERICAN CANYON DRAINAGE.

Comment (Workings): CHINESE MINERS DUG SHAFTS 40-100 FT INTO THE GRAVELS. NUMEROUS DREDGE AND PLACER TAILINGS COVER OVER 100 ACRES.

Comment (Deposit): MOST OF THE PLACER MINING WAS DONE IN THE 1880'S AND 1890'S BY CHINESE MINERS WHO DUG SHAFTS 40-100 FEET INTO THE GRAVELS. NUMEROUS DREDGE AND PLACER TAILINGS COVER OVER 100 ACRES. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT


References

Reference (Deposit): RANSOME, F.L., 1909, MINING DISTRICTS IN HUMBOLDT CONTY, NEVADA; USGS BULL. 414

Reference (Deposit): SCHRADER, F.C., 1914, THE ROCHESTER MINING DISTRICT, NEVADA; USGS BULL. 580-M

Reference (Deposit): VIKRE, PG., 1978, GEOLOGY & SILVER MINERALIZATION OF THE ROCHESTER DISTRICT, PERSHING, COUNTY, NEVADA; STANFORD UNIV. PH.D. THESIS

Reference (Deposit): JOHNSON, M.G., 1977, GEOLOGY AND MINERAL DEPOSITS OF PERSHING COUNTY, NEVADA; NBMG BULL. 89.

Reference (Deposit): VANDERBURG, 1936, PLACER MINING IN NEVADA; NBMG 30

Reference (Deposit): BAILEY, E. H., RYTUBA, J.J. AND JONES, R. B., 1984, UNPUBLISHED DATA ON MERCURY DEPOSITS OF NEVAD.

Reference (Deposit): JOHNSON, M.G., 1973, PLACER GOLD DEPOSITS OF NEVADA; USGS BULL. 1356


Nevada Gold

Gold Districts of Nevada

Nevada has a total of 368 distinct gold districts. Of the of those, just 36 are major producers with production and/or reserves of over 1,000,000 ounces, 49 have production and/or reserves of over 100,000 ounces, with the rest having less than 100,000 ounces. Read more: Gold Districts of Nevada.